“I love the 1,000”
Olympic speed skater Dan Jansen holding his daughter after winning a gold medal in the 1,000-meter race at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Organized ice speed skating was born in Norway in the mid-1800s. Skaters formed clubs and hosted the first intra-club competition in 1863. More than 10,000 Norwegians attended.
Over time, the sport evolved to include 6 official race distances.
It’s tempting to compare speed skating to track and field. But when it comes to mechanics, kinesiologists say it’s really more like cycling. It requires powerful thighs, high speeds, and the constant danger of falling.
Hard.
Dan Jansen was born in Wisconsin in 1965, the youngest of nine. He learned to skate when he was 4 and became a sprinter, excelling in the shortest distances. The 500-meter and 1,000-meter races. One of his sisters, Jane, was especially supportive. She went to all his races.
By the time Dan turned 23, he was the fastest 500-meter sprinter in the world and the favorite to win the event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. But Jane couldn’t come to Calgary. She was sick and undergoing tests. On the morning of the 500, Dan found out Jane was dying of leukemia. He called her, but she was too weak to respond.
And just a few hours later, Jane died.
Later that afternoon, in Dan’s first Olympic race, he slipped and fell in the first turn of the 500. He didn’t even finish the race. Four days later, he fell again in the 1,000. He arrived in Calgary a favorite, and he left with zero Olympic medals.
Heartbroken, Dan trained for another four years. At the 1992 Olympics, he didn’t fall. But he didn’t win a medal either.
That’s when a friend introduced Dan to Dr. Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist.
When Dr. Loehr started working with Dan, he asked him to start journaling. And he told Dan to write two things on the front cover of his journal.
35.99
I love the 1,000
35.99 because at the time, most coaches and athletes thought it was impossible to skate the 500-meters in under 36 seconds.
I love the 1,000 because, well, Dan hated the 1,000. He loved the 500. The 1,000 is a long sprint. It hurts. But Dr. Loehr thought Dan had a real shot of competing for gold.
Dan was willing to try anything. He began journaling daily, and he also used his journal as a training log.
35.99.
I love the 1,000.
Within a year of meeting Dr. Loehr, Dan set a new world record in the 500.
35.92 seconds at a race in Hamar, Norway.
Dan was the favorite to win gold in the 500 at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer and expected to finish in the middle of the pack in the 1,000. Two final races in Norway, his sport’s birthplace. Two final shots at winning an Olympic medal.
But he didn’t win the 500. He didn’t even place. He finished 8th. Most thought his chances of ever winning an Olympic medal were gone.
Four days later, in the final race of his Olympic career, Dan defied all expectations and sprinted 1,000 meters in a new world record time of 1:12.43.
At last, Olympic gold.
When Dan Jansen took a victory lap around the ice, he carried his young daughter Jane, named for his late sister. And then he retired.
Dr. Jim Loehr has written 17 books, including two books on character, defined as
“The wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do what is right."
He believes character is the single most important factor in achievement and personal fulfillment, and Dr. Loehr teaches that “character strength” can be built just like muscle strength is built. Just like endurance strength is built. With energy and commitment.
Dr. Loehr also says that any time we’re trying to build strength, our biggest source of power is our inner monologue. The voice in our head. It’s more powerful than any coach or competitor.
It can damage and demoralize us.
Or it can lift us up.
35.99.
I love the 1,000.
